A product of 3-year research and production, this series of digital documentaries transports its viewers to five ecological sites in Asia namely, Kali Code (Indonesia), Biwako (Japan), Tasik Chini (Malaysia), Batanes (Philippines), and Khiriwong (Thailand). Price: US$50ORDER NOW >>

received honorary doctorate degrees from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University and the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University, during December 2012, for his outstanding devotion to promoting non-violence activities over three decades. < photo credit: Neng Tieo >

API FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM

was launched on July 8, 2000 in Malaysia, in cooperation with major academic institutions in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, to provide public intellectuals in the region opportunities for professional activities and exchanges toward a better future for Asia. In recent years, API has expanded to the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).

API REGIONAL PROJECT: Culminating Event Publication

FELLOW UPDATES: Kidlat Tahimik (Philippines Fellow Year 2009 - 2010)

received 2012 Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prize

NEWSLETTER: "Encountering Asian New Horizons"

INTERVIEW: Masaaki Ohashi (Chair of the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation: JANIC)

"The Power of Networking"

INTERVIEW: Maung Maung Yin (Vice President of the Myanmar Institute of Theology: MIT)

"Paving the Way to Myanmar's Higher Education: Courage in the Face of Intimidation"

Among four API Fellows awarded in 2013, Rina Shahriyani Shahrullah (Indonesia Fellow Year 2007-2008) and Sri Nuryanti (Indonesia Fellow Year 2001-2002) were selected to participate in Session 508: "Getting Transition Right: a Rights-based Approach towards Diversity and Inclusivity", during November 1-6, 2013.

Tasik Chini Pictorial Book

...Out Now!

As Asia moves into the 21st century, it faces political, economic, and social challenges that transcend national boundaries. To meet these challenges, the region needs a new pool of intellectuals who are willing to be active in the public sphere and can articulate common concerns and propose creative solutions. Recognizing that opportunities for intellectual exchanges are currently limited by institutional, linguistic and cultural parameters, The Nippon Foundation, in cooperation with major academic institutions in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, has launched the Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowships Program (API Fellowships Program).

“Rising from the Ashes: Civic Collaboration in Post-Disaster Post-Conflict Asia”

API Fellowships Program is pleased to announce selected panel participants to the special API Public Forum “Rising from the Ashes Together: Civic Collaboration in Post-Disaster Post-Conflict Asia” to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, on November 14, 2014. The forum will carry a symbolical meaning of peace and hope to the world, inits significant moment addressing API’s future engagements and action in the region.

- Michiko Sugawara(Japan Fellow Year 2009-2010)Project title: Asian Small Farmers' Resilience in Times of Trade Liberalization: A Comparative Study of Rice Trade and Organic Farming in Indonesia, Japan and Thailand

- Kenta Kishi (Japan Fellow Year 2010 - 2011)
Project title: Impact of Urban Migration for Major Cities in Indonesia: Studies and Creative Practices for Massive Influx of Workers in City and Its Implications for Existing Urban Community

>> API Mekong Mobile Workshop (MMW) entitled "Crossing the Border, Building Solidarity in the Region" was organized by the Fellows of Thailand-CLMV and API Thailand from March 2 to 9, 2015 in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

>> 13th API Regional Workshops took place in Hiroshima, Japan, during November 9-13, 2014.

>> 12th API Regional Workshops was held in Bali, Indonesia, during November 24 - 28, 2013.

>> API Country Workshops 2013
Each API Partner Institution (PI) organized a Country Workshop in February - March 2013, served as a forum for all previous and current Fellows to exchange ideas and to explore areas for potential collaboration.

>> 11th API Regional Workshops was held in Tagaytay, the Philippines, during November 25 - 28, 2012

>> API-Salzburg Global Seminar Collaboration 2013 provided the opportunities for the API Fellows to expand their intellectual capacities by exposing themselves to world intellectual leaders and encouraging the API Fellows to convey the messages and voices of Asia to other parts of the world.(Deadline of the application - October 31, 2012)

>> API Fellowship Applications Year 2013 - 2014 were open during July - August 2012.

>> API Panel for the 22nd IAHA Conference in Indonesia, July 2-5, 2012
To promote cross-border studies, activities and regional collaboration, API Fellowships Program welcomes members of the API Community to participate as a panel at this significant regional platform.

>> API Country Workshops 2012: Each API Partner Institution (PI) organized a Country Workshop in February - March 2012, served as a forum for all previous and current Fellows to exchange ideas and to explore areas for potential collaboration.

>> API 10th Anniversary Regional Celebration was held at the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines during May 28-30, 2010, in recognition and appreciation of the decade-long impact and contribution of the Program, the celebration consisted of three key events - symposium, conference, and exhibitions/performances.

ANNOUNCEMENT >>

API CLOSURE ANNOUNCEMENT

This is to formally announce the termination of the Asian Public Intellectual Fellowships Program (API) on May 31, 2015.

The API Fellowships Program was established in 2000 to foster the growth of the public sphere where public intellectuals can articulate common concerns and propose creative solutions. To date, 333 of API Fellows have been part of this aspiration. Their scholarly and advocacy contribution to the region has been significant.

With the closure of the program, the offices of the API Partner Institutions and Coordinating Institution will likewise close. An API Community Regional Office, however, will start operation on 1 June 2015. IKMAS of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia has graciously agreed to run the Office.

Background: A number of CSO activists and academicians from Fukushima and Japan are in Bangkok to take part in the 6th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (6AMCDRR) from 23rd to 25th June hosted by the Thai Government. This meeting is a part of the preparation of the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Sendai of Japan, in March 20115. In these meetings, the succeeding Global Disaster Frame of Action, namely HFA, will be prepared. Japan CSO Coalition for 2015 WCDR (JCC2015) and Fukushima people are very much concern that a nuclear disaster is not well focused in the present and the future HFA, although a large number of nuclear power stations are under-construction in Asia. So the next nuclear disaster might take place in Asia and developing countries. By sharing the Fukushima’s bitter experience, people will prevent, or reduce hazards caused by a nuclear disaster. Or they may advocate to change official energy policies for more sustainable ones.

LIVING LANDSCAPES, CONNECTED COMMUNITIES:
Culture, Environment, and Change across Asia

The book is the output of API Regional Project, contributing to understanding the complex challenges facing Asia's bio-cultural diversity and eco-communities, as well as the diversity of multi-faceted, interconnected approaches taken by individuals and communities to address them. Where environmental-developmental literature is dominated by technocratic manuals, academic studies and advocacy literature, this book fills a gap by capturing personal experiences of change and collective action. It opens a window to the contemporary realities faced by local communities and documents their emerging responses. The studies are presented through the views and voices of 49 concerned Asian public intellectuals from Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Recognition>> Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation (TNF), was appointed by the Japanese government as Special Envoy of the Government of Japan for National Reconciliation in Myanmar on February 25, 2013.

Tasik Chini Pictorial Book>> A pictorial book entitled "Tasik Chini: A lake at the edge of ecological collapse" was launched in November 2012 as a result of the collaboration among API Fellows and Malaysia PI. Written by Ahmad Hezri Bin Adnan (Malaysia Fellow Year 2006 - 2007) and Henry Chan (Malaysia Fellow Year 2001 - 2002), the book shows how Tasik Chini is a national treasure and addresses human conscience to restore its environmental condition. This bilingual book in English and Bahasa Malaysia showcases maps and rare images of lives around Tasik Chini. People interested in the book, please contact Herzri via e-mail at ezriadnan@gmail.com and cc: to apifellowships@yahoo.com The price of the pictorial book is US$10 per copy and its proceeds goes to the local community of Tasik Chini.

Nadarajah Manickam(Malaysia Senior Fellow Year 2005-2006)'s new book "Living Pathways: Meditations on sustainable cultures and cosmologies in Asia" was released in January 2014 by Areca Books.

"Living Pathways" offers its readers a chance to meditate upon important questions and consider ways of being that we have not paid enough attention to or have disregarded completely. It reflects upon the meaningful directions that could be taken towards the socially-engaged spiritual paths well-trodden by sustainable communities. Above all, it presents the reader with a picture of the world we live in, and the world as it could be, if we passionately and mindfully choose to make it happen. (Source : arecabooks.com)

Norhayati Kaprawi (Malaysia Fellow Year 2011 - 2012)'s 45-minute documentary "Ulama Perempuan (Female Ulama)" explores the role of female religious leaders in Indonesian society, and was shown at Malaysia's annual Freedom Film Festival, which was held in Kuala Lumpur from December 7-15, 2013. The annual event screens human rights films made by independent filmmakers, and is organized by Pusat Komas, with support from the Penang and Selangor state governments. This documentary is partly based on her API Fellowship activities in Indonesia.

Ambeth R. Ocampo (Philippines Fellow Year 2010 - 2011) received the Presidential Medal of Merit from President Benigno S. Aquino at a meeting with the Filipino community at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo on December 12, 2013. Ocampo was recognized for "his writings, through which he popularized Philippine history, art, and culture thus bringing these aspects of our national identity and culture closer to the people."

Zaw Aung (Myanmar Fellow Year 2013 - 2014) launched a book in May 2013 in Burmese titled "Ka Lone Htar Water Reservoir and Social Justice (Dawei Deep Seaport and Special Economic Zone Project)". The book is funded by the Ka Lone Htar Village Development Committee, and distributed throughout Dawei and Yangon.

Jomo K.S. (API Malaysia Fellow Year 2001-2002) recently launched "MALAYSIA@50: Economic Development, Distribution, Disparities", which he co-authored with Wee Chong Hui. The book is about Malaysia's growth and changes since the country was formed on September 16, 1963, such as development policies drafted in response to national as well as international developments. The book also looks at how public policy has been influenced by, and has influenced, economic distribution, public finance and economic federalism. Discussions on government taxation, spending and distribution implications are included. This book is published and distributed worldwide by World Scientific Publishing. (Source: amazon.com)

Toshiyuki Doi (Japan Fellow Year 2011 - 2012) consolidated his knowledge and research findings from his API Fellowship period into an Information Packet entitled "Nature and Our Future : The Mekong Basin and Japan", a product of "Green Mekong Initiative citizens' publication and citizen proposals regarding conservation of Mekong Basin ecosystems making active use of traditional natural resource management". The information packet consists of two parts : 1) briefing papers presenting the Mekong River's environment and natural resources, the impacts of development, people's resource utilization, alternative local initiatives, and experiences in Japan. 2) a collection of videos that depict the natural environment, which is valued by the people living in the Mekong basin and also represents their livelihood. More information : www.mekongwatch.org.